LG Xboom Go

LG Xboom Go

Designing a portable speaker for the global market

The challenge

In 2017, I went to New York to work together with our Questtonó Brooklyn team with the task to design a new innovative speaker for LG Electronics. Our team conducted two fieldworks both in Brazil and in the US to understand how people listen to music and what are the important aspects to be taken into consideration when they are using portable speakers.

With these findings, we came up with a strategy to attend both markets. We conducted a co-creation session with the client and then dived for some weeks into an intense ideation process to come up with the final solution.

The outcome

An innovative and award-winning portable speaker for the global market.

1

Research and strategy

During our field research in Brazil and the US, we highlighted two key aspects when people are listening to music:

1. In Brazil, people want to show off their style and music taste. They want to be perceived, to create impact in their environment and in people around them.

2. In the US, tailgating - when people stay around the open tailgate of a vehicle listening to music and consuming alcoholic beverage - is an important use case. So we wanted to create a product that people would want to use in-home but also durable and easy-to-carry for outdoor social events.

2

Final design

After weeks of ideation, the final result is an innovative and award-winning portable speaker, which is being manufactured and sold across the globe.

We created what we called X-Grip frame that surrounds the product, giving an iconic shape while protects and creates handles so the user can carry wherever he or she wants. Colorful LEDs can be turned on to create a party atmosphere and show off their music taste.

As the Red Dot Award states:

A remarkable feature of this speaker series is the X-Grip frame surrounding the respective speaker body and merging into a practical carrying handle. The illumination on the front side visualises the sound and fills the room with atmospheric glow or party lighting. Sound is produced by six speakers, which, thanks to digital technology, deliver a balanced audio spectrum. As the speakers are aptX compatible, they are capable of reproducing 24-bit music via Bluetooth almost loss-free.

Statement by the Jury

The striking design of the speaker series pleases with its robust appearance and multifunctional carrying handles that also serve as a stand.